Yevamos 100b
יבמות ק׳ ע״ב
Yevamot 100b
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Topic
The son of uncertain fatherhood in the משנה, and שמואל's rule that a child whose כהן father is unknown loses כהונה (only for זנות). The משנה is explained as a case of קידושי טעות.
Overview
This amud finishes the משנה about a baby who could be the son of either of two men, because his mother remarried too soon. When one possible father is a כהן and the other a ישראל, he takes on the strict rules of both. When both are כהנים, mourning applies both ways, טומאה is forbidden both ways, and he serves with both משמרות. The גמרא first explains that חליצה must come before יבום for his widow. Then שמואל teaches that a child of one unknown man out of ten כהנים is a שתוקי and loses כהונה, because the פסוק requires 'his seed after him.' The גמרא limits this rule: it is דרבנן and applies only to זנות, not to marriage. A challenge from our משנה seems to refute שמואל, since the משנה lets the son serve as a כהן. רב שמעיא answers that the case is a ממאנת, but a young girl is not expected to give birth safely. So the גמרא settles on a woman whose קידושין were a mistake. Such a woman can be grown, can have a son, and can leave without a גט.
Opening lines
הָיוּ לוֹ אַחִים מִן הָרִאשׁוֹן
If he had brothers from the first husband
וְאַחִים מִן הַשֵּׁנִי,
and brothers from the second husband,
שֶׁלֹּא מֵאוֹתָהּ הָאֵם —
not from the same mother —
הוּא חוֹלֵץ וּמְיַיבֵּם,
he performs חליצה and יבום,
The steps (33)
- StatementYibum with half-brothers from both possible fathers
- StatementOne possible father a Kohen: marriage and impurity
- StatementTeruma rules for the doubtful Kohen
- StatementSacrifices, priestly gifts, and his firstborn animal
- ConclusionThe general rule: stringencies of both
- StatementBoth possible fathers Kohanim: mourning, impurity, inheritance
- StatementNo punishment for hitting or cursing either possible father
- StatementServing with the priestly watches and sharing in the offerings
- Statementחליצה must come first, then יבום
- Statementשמואל: a child of one of ten כהנים is a שתוקי
- QuestionWhat does שתוקי mean here?
- RejectionNot about inheritance, since that is obvious
- ResponseHe is silenced from the status of כהונה
- QuestionWhy does he lose כהונה?
- ResponseThe פסוק requires offspring traced to the father
- Challengeרב פפא asks about the same phrase said to אברהם
- ResolutionThe phrase to אברהם warns against marrying a non-Jew or maidservant
- ChallengeA ברייתא lets an uncertain first son become a כהן גדול
- ResolutionThe traceable-lineage rule is only rabbinic
- ResolutionThe rabbinic rule applies only to זנות, not to marriage
- ChallengeDid the רבנן really make the rule even for זנות?
- QuestionWhat does 'after her husband' mean?
- ChallengeThe משנה's ending doesn't fit a husband who died
- ResolutionMaybe the משנה is about a divorcée
- ChallengeThe son not becoming impure for the fathers doesn't fit a divorcée
- ChallengeFor the first husband, the son should be allowed either way
- ResolutionSo the משנה must be about זנות
- ChallengeThe son serves in both משמרות, which refutes שמואל
- ResolutionThe case is a girl who refused her husband
- ChallengeCan a girl who does מיאון even have a baby?
- ResolutionThe case is a mistaken betrothal
- Proofשמואל's teaching: a coerced סוטה stays permitted
- ProofA mistaken-betrothal wife can walk away even after having a child